MAKERPLACE IS A TINKERER’S DREAM

Shared-use shop for public provides high-tech equipment, tools and space to create

Eric Robinson is a tinkerer. His garage is crammed with the tools he needs for his varied hobbies, which range from robotics to beekeeping. So when he heard about a new, shared-use fabrication shop with the latest high-tech equipment, he signed up right away.

MakerPlace opened to the public in March. Its 14,000-square-foot building is well lit, with vast work benches, wall-size whiteboards and high ceilings echoing with the joyful noise of wood saws and sandblasting equipment.

“All this equipment makes my man juices run high,” Robinson said. “I had two of my friends tell me about it, and I immediately came down. I want to try everything eventually.”

Billed as “your dream shop,” this facility is the first of its kind in San Diego. Places like these are associated with the “Maker Movement,” a trend described as a technology-based extension of DIY culture. It features tools that tinkerers covet but would never be able to afford, such as:

• A 3-D “printer” (applies layer upon layer of plastic to make a model from a computer design). Similar machines cost around $50,000.

• A CNC router (uses a computer program to cut wood precisely) that runs about $35,000.

• An industrial sewing machine (good for handling thick materials like leather or canvas); similar models sell for $3,000.

Robinson spends several evenings a week making things there. So far, he has constructed a beehive and has begun work on a prototype of a car attachment that — at least in theory — could improve gas mileage.

The shop was established by Steve Herrick, a retired Silicon Valley businessman who lives in Coronado; and Brian and Michael Salmon, brothers who own a San Diego custom-fabrication business. With private funding, they obtained about half of the equipment at auctions and the rest — such as the lasers and sewing gear — brand new.

“Everybody’s wanted to do this; everybody’s had this idea — but nobody’s pulled the trigger,” said Michael Salmon. “There’s nothing like this in San Diego with the amount of tools and the quality of the space.”

Similar to TechShop in the Bay Area, the shop is open to people who pay a membership fee, typically $135 a month. Through word-of-mouth advertising, 120 people joined in the first three weeks.

“This is (practically) zero overhead; I don’t know why there isn’t a line out the door,” said Pat Downing, an artist and metalworker who joined and rents a locker for his supplies. “One of the things I’ve done is just come out here and play.”

The recession helped boost interest in hands-on work, and the falling price of high-tech tools and materials made more projects possible, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Maker Movement — using high-tech tools to make things in the developed world, as opposed to sending specs to China — could herald the beginnings of a new Industrial Revolution, The Economist has said. About 100 shared-tool facilities have sprung up around the world in the past five years, mainly in urban areas, according to news reports.

“The core of it is getting back to independent manufacturing,” said Michael Salmon, “putting people back in charge of what’s going on, as opposed to outsourcing.”